Nivan is awesome, and so is this

These people have a plan :




Holy shit. Take a look at some of the pictures. That's what inspires me as art.

Nivan shared this with me on facebook (on the behalf of Adam Blanchard). I really wish he would share it on this blog, and write a little about that, but I don't know if that is ever gonna happen.

(I really don't like that the "web" is described as "the work of horrifyingly large arachnids." It made it less beautiful to me.)

I think at the center of what amazes me about this piece is that "'The installation is based on an idea for a dance performance in which the form evolves from the movement of the dancers between the pillars,' explains For Use’s Christoph Katzler. 'The dancers are stretching the tape while they move, so the resulting shape is a recording of the choreography.'” Sure, you could trace that pattern on the floor with paint, but they thought about it three dimensionally, using an unusual medium with which we usually have an very different way of contact.

Say that last part three times fast.

As I start into what is basically a two week tech process, I find that what I love about the video is how smoothly that technical process went. Of course, I'm sure there were points where certain people would stop and question something, but they had it planned out. What is so cool about our production of dead city is that so much of that really time consuming tech bullshit we can work through in a rehearsal room. I'll talk more about that at our little design meeting. But basically, this is gonna be good.

Sleep now.

Thoughts on technology in our society.

NPR had an interesting interview with a journalist about technology and its influence in our lives. If you have a chance, take maybe 40 minutes and hear this:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129384107

It seemed relevant enough to share, and even if it turns out not to be, it's at least very thoughtful. :)

Alot of Scenes...in need of scene changes

So, one of the big questions as set designer (and everyone else for that matter) is -- how do we get from one place to another with ease and... grace? The massive number of locations presents itself as quite a challenge for me; making each scene uniquely descriptive and encapsulating of that place's essence, how? Perhaps that difference can be developed during each scene, so that by the moment when the next scene approaches, all is ready to maintain the flow of the play.

What I'm trying to say is: people on stage all the time, working on scene changes while other scenes are happening. So that stagehands are actively a part of what's happening on stage and, shall we say, becoming a representation of Samantha's unconscious mind by constantly developing her next step?

What do you think?